Best Served Fake

fifty-four // decked him

I did have lots of those. "Why have you all been avoiding me all day?"

"We haven't," said Cora, cheerfully. "Will punched Tommy in the face, and we were all witnesses. We spent homeroom in the principle's office, and lunchtime in detention."

I blinked. Okay. "Why did Will punch Tommy in the face?"

"He found out what happened between Tommy and Isabelle years ago," Cora explained. "Apparently, Will didn't even know about it. Isabelle told me about a year ago, and I always assumed he knew. Kai's always known, but he isn't inclined to violence, much."

"Kai wouldn't have told Will," I said faintly. "Not about that."

"Exactly. Kai knows it would drive Will absolutely mental. Plus, it's Isabelle's secret to tell. Well, Isabelle told Will about it." Cora shook her head. "When Will asked Tommy about it this morning, Tommy made some sort of snide comment about Izzy. I think Will's intention was only to let Aster know that he knew what he'd done, but Will wouldn't tolerate anyone talking shit about her. So, Will decked him."

That didn't surprise me. Will was the appointed Dad friend of the group, and Isabelle's self-imposed protector. I couldn't really imagine Will hitting anyone—like Kai, he was far more a lover than a fighter, and had a gentler temperament than almost anyone I knew—but somehow, those things didn't seem to apply for either of them when it came to Isabelle.

"How did the rest of you get involved?" I asked.

"Ah, well. Most of us were there when Will hit him. Jameson told Tommy his hands didn't perform manual labour and also didn't touch trash, but the same didn't apply to his feet. So, Jamie, uh, stepped on Tommy's fingers. Seb hauled Jameson off and I—" Cora looked momentarily guilty, but also a little gleeful. "—I was maybe filming. It wasn't a great look when the teacher sauntered past. We spent half the morning facing the music. Will and Jamie have been suspended, which for Will is an abomination and for Jameson seems to be the fulfilment of a lifelong ambition. If Will wasn't so good at everything, he'd probably have faced expulsion, but I don't think the school particularly wanted their Dux and football captain kicked out."

I was glad to hear Will hadn't suffered any irreversible consequences, mostly because I knew Tommy would be a smug little shit about them. And also because I cared about Will's future. But also, the Tommy thing.

"Did Tommy break his face?" I asked, not because it was the most pertinent question, but because I was scared of the answers to anything more serious.

"Unfortunately, no. But here's to hoping. Maybe he'll fall over on the way out of the GP and severely damage everything." Cora seemed to understand my avoidance technique, and would only indulge it for the extent of three sentences. "And since you actually want to know where Kai was, he didn't come into school today. Zac drove down from Casserine last night to discuss the next few years with Maria and Kai. I hear that might've been your doing?"

Zac had pulled through. Huh. I was glad that my actions had at least actualised one good thing. "Might've been," I said.

Cora nudged my hip with hers. "Thank you."

I wanted to see Kai, to know what he thought about my intervention. And to find out how Kai planned to escape Maria. But there was something else I had to know first.

"Did Kai really tell you that it was fake?" I asked. The question had driven me to distraction for days, but it had only confused me more since speaking with Tommy. Why would he tell them? He'd cut me out of his life to ensure that the secret never got out, and yet he'd told Cora and Jameson and Will and Seb about it anyway?